THE RIBATEJANO PIG: A CROSS BASED ON A FATTY PIG

The Ribatejano (RI) pig productive performance, resulting from a cross between Alentejano (AL) and Bísaro (BI) breeds, was assessed within the framework of the TREASURE* project. Nine castrated male pigs from each genotype (AL, BI, ALxBI and BIxAL) were studied. Animals were raised in traditional free-range system, individually fed with commercial diets ad libitum, and slaughtered at ~150 kg live weight (LW). No significant (P>0.05) differences were observed between genotypes on the average daily gain. Overall, carcass length, and head and bone cuts percentages (P<0.001) were higher in BI than AL pigs, with intermediate values for both crosses. Carcass yield (P<0.01) was lower in BI and BIxAL, while commercial yield percentage (P<0.05) was lower in AL and ALxBI genotypes. Conversely, fat cuts percentage, average backfat thickness and ZP fat depth (P<0.001) were higher in AL than in BI, ALxBI and BIxAL pigs. At ~150 kg LW, RI crosses presented generally intermediate characteristics between the fatter (AL) and
leaner (BI) genotypes. These trends were already observed in a previous work where these genotypes were slaughtered at ~65 kg LW (Martins et al. 2017). Therefore, this cross can be an alternative to the use of other breeds for crossing, and increase the income of local pig producers in a sustainable way, mitigate the exodus of rural population, and also preserve the pure breed pig populations, contributing to animal biodiversity.